As a component of fruit juices, passion fruit has been at home in supermarkets in this country for decades. During the season, fresh passion fruit is also suitable as a fruity refreshment for in between.

The difference between passion fruit and maracuja

The terms passion fruit and maracuja are often used as synonyms, but this is not entirely correct. The passion fruit, with its edible seeds and the sour pulp in between, also belongs to the genus of flowering passion flowers. However, the passion fruit is a subspecies of passion fruit, also known as grenadilla. While passion fruit, which is purple when ripe, is often incorrectly depicted on juice packaging containing passion fruit, ripe passion fruit is actually yellow to orange in colour.

Origin and season for the passion fruit

The passion fruit is usually a bit more sour in taste than the purple passion fruit. Fruits that have reached the right degree of ripeness also taste very good freshly spooned out of the peel and not only as juice. The main growing areas for passion fruit are like the place of origin in tropical latitudes. In this country, the passion fruit in the supermarket usually comes from the following countries:

  • Mexico
  • Venezuela
  • Bolivia
  • Ecuador

The sweet grenadilla is grown for more regional consumption but also occasionally in tropical areas in Africa, Asia, Australia and on various Pacific islands. Due to the widely scattered growing areas, imported fruits are in season in this country all year round.

Correctly assess the degree of ripeness of a passion fruit

In contrast to the purple passion fruit, ripe maracujas cannot be recognized by a slight drying of the skin with dents and wrinkles. Maracujas, which are still green on the outside, were usually harvested when they were clearly unripe. Fully ripe passion fruit have a rich yellow hue and feel rather heavy for their size. Passion fruit that are too light are generally already overripe and therefore more likely to have dried out. Since the yellow passion fruits are a bit firmer overall than their purple relatives, a firm fruit body is not a sign of immaturity.

tips and tricks

If you want to grow the passion fruit yourself in the garden or on the windowsill, you must first clean the seeds of any pulp, otherwise they can easily become moldy.

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Trees